


Digital Disguise

by lethal_formula



Category: Love Live! Sunshine!!
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-15
Updated: 2019-04-15
Packaged: 2020-01-14 15:06:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18478723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lethal_formula/pseuds/lethal_formula
Summary: Yoshiko seems to live in her own little world, attracting legions of online followers as the fallen angel Yohane. Hanamaru wants to take a closer look at the world her friend has created. What lengths will she go to for that opportunity - and what will happen if she takes it?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, it's my first fanfic ever. Please be gentle! Trying to keep things relatively close to canon, hopefully the way I've chosen to represent Hanamaru's accent doesn't grate.
> 
> Two friends read over this before it went up to make sure it wasn't a disastrophe. My gratitude goes out to them both.

The School Idol Club room at Uranohoshi High School was rarely ever a dull place, but it was extremely lively this afternoon. The level of excitement in the room could hardly have increased, as eight of Aqours' members were crammed around a laptop – the only absentee being Mari, who had no way to avoid a meeting about school administration with her father. She’d desperately tried to get out of it too, as today was the day that the details of the upcoming regional Love Live preliminary performance were released, and nobody could wait to find out when and where they’d be performing.

As Kanan read out the information on the website, the girls felt pretty good about things. They had the better part of two months to prepare, and the venue was in Hamamatsu, which wasn’t too far away. There was just one more unexpected detail, though. “Even though our fans will be in the venue on the day, the show will be streaming online too,” explained Kanan. “So as well as considering the live audience, we'll need to think about how we look on camera.”

“Okay, I've got some ideas that will make sure our outfits really stand out on screen,” replied You, who began feverishly sketching out plans with Ruby watching attentively. Riko stayed quiet, lost in thought as she tried to figure out what kind of song would work best for the setting, and Kanan moved out to begin preparations for the afternoon's practice. However, one member of the group wasn't quite on the same page as everyone else.

“Streamin'… is that like the YouTube we put our videos on?” inquired Hanamaru.

The question shouldn't have come as a surprise – everyone in Aqours was already aware of the first year's lack of experience with technology – but Yoshiko couldn't help briefly furrowing her brows, before she snapped straight back into character. “You don't know? Heh heh heh, mortals can be so ignorant of the treasures they possess! By the power of-”

“You're on the right track,” Dia interrupted, unwilling to let Yoshiko confuse matters with her dramatics. The self-styled fallen angel might have taken exception to that, had it been anyone but the student council president. She sank back into her chair with a pout as her upperclassman resumed her explanation. “Sometimes it's on YouTube, but it can be on lots of other sites too. Our performance will be shown on the Love Live website, at the same time as we're on stage. It's like live television, just on the internet.”

Hanamaru was practically glowing at the prospect. “ _Mirai, zura!_ That's amazing! Ain't that a lot of money to spend, though?”

“Eeeh? Anyone with a phone can do a stream, Zuramaru,” Yoshiko responded. “Even the great Yohane uses them to commune with her little demons!”

Dia’s neutral expression quickly became a frown. “I do hope you're not doing anything to bring Aqours or the school into disrepute, Yoshiko-chan,”

“I would never, and it's Yo-ha-ne! Yohane!” The raised pitch of her indignant retort made it plain to everyone in the room that Yoshiko was rattled, despite her best efforts to play it cool.

“It was an expression of concern, not an accusation.”

The back and forth between Yoshiko and Dia washed right over Hanamaru, who was far more interested in what she'd just heard from her classmate. “What do you do in the stream, Yoshiko-chan?”

“It's so cool! She tells everyone about angels and demons and stuff, there's all these candles, and she performs rituals and even talks to all the people in the chat,” came the reply, from Chika rather than the target of Hanamaru's curiosity. “I watched a show once, but… to be honest, the only bit I really _got_ was the fortune telling,” she added with a goofy smile.

“Y-you did?” stammered Yoshiko, completely taken aback by this sudden revelation. “Well, ahem, I hope you were able to feel a little more devotion to me as a little demon!”

“Yeah, when we tried the fallen angel theme before the third years joined – remember, Ruby showed us in the club room that time? The way you did it looked amazing and I wanted us to try it as a group, but I didn't know much about it, so I googled some of the things you said and ended up finding your Yohane channel.” The channel hadn't been hard to find, as the name was pretty unique among streamers – on the other hand, it was sheer luck that she'd found it so quickly. Having been mortified at her club friends finding a video, Yoshiko soon disabled archiving for her account. “Even though I didn't understand much of it, everyone watching really seemed to love the show. I knew we had to recruit you no matter what because even though it wasn't right for Aqours in the end, you really make it shine. Watching Yohane that night made a huge impression on me.”

“Of course it did! No human can resist the devilish charms of Yohane,” the first year yelled triumphantly. While she'd never admit it, Yoshiko was actually pretty proud of her sideline in streaming. She'd built a considerable audience, and it was having those little demons hanging on her every word that made it so hard to leave her Yohane facade behind, despite her best efforts. The fact that it had actually impressed Chika felt pretty good – most of the other members of Aqours didn't take Yohane particularly seriously.

Before anyone had the chance to burst Yoshiko's bubble, Kanan reappeared in the doorway and beckoned everyone out to start their warm-ups. The assembled members of Aqours followed in a semi-orderly fashion, with the exception of Hanamaru, who was just a bit spaced out and still staring at the laptop. She finally snapped out of it after Ruby popped her head back into the club room and hurried her out for practice, but even as she followed her friend up to the roof, she couldn't help contemplating the possibilities of the computer. As much she found those fallen angel fantasies funny, and even though Yoshiko seemed concerned that any of her fellow idols were watching her, Hanamaru often wondered how far they'd go without anyone to rein them in. Plus, Chika made the streaming show sound pretty amazing. What would it be like to get a closer look into Yohane's world?

As she opened the door and spotted Yoshiko striking another one of her effortlessly cool poses, Hanamaru made up her mind – she was _definitely_ going to find out.


	2. Chapter 2

As she stared at the message on her phone, Yoshiko couldn't help but think that something was a bit amiss. There wouldn't normally be anything strange about an invitation like “Meet me in the club room,” but for three facts. Firstly, practice was off that day. Though they could scarcely afford to miss a session with the preliminaries coming up, there were too many schedule clashes to hold one. Mari and Dia were both busy with their official duties, Riko was also preparing for a piano recital and Chika had been pulled in to help with a large group that had booked at her family's ryokan. With almost half of the group otherwise occupied Kanan had decided to work on the choreography, but a rare bout of summer rain meant that she was doing it in her notebook, from the confines of the diving shop. You and Ruby were the only two girls going to the club room, as they were still working on costumes.

But the second funny thing about that message was that it wasn't from You or Ruby, but from Hanamaru – and while she wasn't actively opposed to technology, she wasn't experienced with it and was rarely inclined to use it as a result. In fact, the phone she carried around was was so basic that Yoshiko was surprised it ran Line. Lastly, Yoshiko couldn't remember the last time Hanamaru had asked to meet her in a room other than the library, which had become the lifelong bookworm’s favourite place as soon as they joined Uranohoshi. As odd as it was, Yoshiko brushed it all off as she entered the room.

Hanamaru was already there. So were You and Ruby, but they were so absorbed in their sewing that they barely responded to Yoshiko's entrance, working with a sense of diligence that would have made even Dia proud. To be fair, Yoshiko barely noticed them either, thanks to Hanamaru. “Oh great Yohane, I bring you an offering,” came her playful greeting. Yoshiko was used to her friend's gentle mocking, but to see her brandishing a laptop –  _ Zuramaru _ , of all people! – that was just weird. Still, given that Hanamaru had dropped her inclination to outright refuse the name of Yohane, there was no sense in responding in anything other than full fallen angel mode. Yoshiko decided to tease her friend right back.

“My my, is the innocent temple maiden finally being corrupted by the wicked temptation of modern technology?” It wasn't too often Yoshiko avoided getting flustered and actually delivered a decent comeback, and having managed to do so she was feeling pretty smug. “Whatever possessed you to take a step into a realm as dark as the internet?”

“I needed some books from the library but too many of 'em were checked out, so my parents got me a computer to do research.” Hanamaru didn't like to be dishonest, but Yoshiko couldn't know the truth and that story wasn't _entirely_ fictitious – it was consistent with what Hanamaru had told her parents, and she probably would end up using the computer for research. She figured that Yoshiko wouldn't know quite how implausible that reason was either, since she rarely visited the library if she wasn't asked to do so. As a Catholic school, Uranohoshi didn't keep many books on the occult. “You know computers, so I wondered if you'd help me get used to it,” she continued. “I brought some snacks for you too. It's so cool, zura!”

Cool wasn't quite the word Yoshiko would have used – in fact, she was even starting to question her use of the term “modern” a moment ago. Just from the look of it, this machine certainly wasn't new. It had to be at least five years old, and even then it would have been at the cheaper end of the market. While it'd probably still do for day to day web browsing and watching videos, anyone who liked gaming as much as Yoshiko would have upgraded long ago. Still, she didn't want to dampen her friend's excitement, so she responded in the affirmative.

Ruby and You were working like a well-oiled machine and barely even needed to speak to one another, so Yoshiko was able to work on Hanamaru's new computer without interruption – other than Hanamaru’s occasional questions, the only thing she heard was the pitter-patter of raindrops against the window. Yoshiko made sure to get some antivirus software on there, quickly replaced the default web browser with something a bit less…  _ ancient _ , and got rid of some of the useless stuff that was bundled with the machine. She also installed some messaging services so Maru could keep in touch with the other girls, and even though she wasn’t sure it was Maru’s scene, Yoshiko got her set up on Twitter too .

Since she felt a duty of care towards this internet novice, Yoshiko also decided to prime Hanamaru on some standard internet safety advice. “People aren't always who they say they are,” Yoshiko warned, “and links don't always go to what you're told they will. Sometimes, you'll get messages from someone who seems friendly and then they'll start talking about 'private cams' and 'adult shows.' Those aren't even real people, they're just programs trying to get you to watch dirty stuff, we call them spambots. If you see a flashing image telling you that you've won something, you haven't. And remember, if you get a weird email, never click the links in it. That's the easiest way to get hacked.”

Hanamaru drank in the knowledge, nodding occasionally but otherwise just listening. She'd rarely seen Yoshiko acting so seriously, and she clearly knew her stuff when it came to computers. Plus, while she wasn't quite as sheltered as Ruby, she'd didn't want to see anything unsettling and she'd heard that the internet had some pretty nasty stuff on it. Not only that, but she really was out of her depth here – the first time she'd touched a computer, she accidentally turned it off and it looked like Riko was going to explode. Yoshiko's instruction was pretty comprehensive though, so once the initial tutorial was through, Hanamaru only had one question.

“So, um, how do I do a google?”

After everything they'd gone over, Yoshiko couldn't quite believe that Hanamaru would ask something so obvious – but as a regular computer user, that information was so basic that she had assumed it didn't need explaining. “You just type what you want to find in this bar here, and it'll search it for you, You can call me if you need help, or just bring it in tomorrow. But I've gotta leave now or I'll miss the bus home.”

“Thanks so much for helpin' me out! See you tomorrow, Yoshiko-chan!”

Hanamaru couldn't help raising a smile as she heard an echoing cry from down the hall, ordering her to address Yoshiko by her preferred moniker. Today had been a good day. Armed with the knowledge she needed, Maru bid farewell to You and Ruby and set off home to enact the next part of her plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That internet safety advice is always good to remember, right?


	3. Chapter 3

It had been a frustrating week for Hanamaru. She had passed the initial excitement over getting the computer and making her first attempts to surf the information superhighway, and learned some disappointing things. Firstly, both of those terms hadn't been used unironically since before she was born. Secondly, the digital world has some harsh realities of its own, even beyond Yoshiko's warnings.

For a start, the technological illiteracy of the Kunikida family had caused some problems. They'd asked the shop assistant if the computer would connect to the internet, and they'd been told it would. But none of them knew that it wouldn't do so on its own, and that they needed an internet connection – they had all thought that was just something the computer did, especially since it was supposedly wireless internet. This resulted in much nervousness on the part of Hanamaru's parents, who were worried about what might be required to connect the temple to the internet, and subsequent relief when they found out that their existing telephone line was sufficient. Even so, delivering the equipment would take time, so she could only get online at school.

Additionally, she had found Google to be considerably less user-friendly than her friends had suggested. Once again, this had a lot to do with Hanamaru's lack of experience with computers, and she was learning slowly without the benefit of being able to use her computer in the evenings. She had made her first request to the search engine in much the same way as she might have asked another person for help. Unfortunately, “How do I see Yoshiko please?” was not the correct way to query a search engine, and she saw a lot of results for music videos as well as a professional wrestler who looked frankly terrifying.

Once she'd been corrected on her usage of search engines, Hanamaru still ran into problems. Eventually, by searching “Yohane stream” she'd found her friend's channel. But in keeping with her character, Yoshiko preferred to stream late at night, well after Hanamaru could reasonably stay at school. There had been two Yohane streams since Hanamaru found the channel, and she'd missed both of them. Worse yet, Yoshiko didn't archive her streams. The reason given on the channel page was “These moments we share together are fleeting, destined to disappear into the mists of time,” but Maru suspected that her friend just didn't want evidence of her chuunibyou identity hanging around if she ever did finally manage to ditch it.

Thankfully though, Hanamaru's frustrations were about to come to an end. Today was the day that the internet company was finally activating her connection, and she'd been given some money to buy headphones too, so as not to disturb the peace of the temple. Better yet, another Yohane stream was taking place that very night. Once practice was over for the evening, she tried to pass the time by reading, but for the first time in a long time Hanamaru could barely concentrate on her book. She hadn't been so excited since her first Aqours performance.

As the time of the stream approached, Hanamaru briefly wondered if it might be wrong to watch such a thing in the temple. There would be a lot of talk about angels, demons and Hell after all. Still, Hanamaru reasoned that the temple hosted demons during Setsubun, and besides, it was just an act – the Yoshiko she knew was no malign spirit. A little fortune telling would be fine, after all. Finally, the clock struck 10pm and the stream began. A black-cloaked figure stood in the centre of the screen, surrounded by candles that dimly lit the scene, and provided a little smoke for dramatic effect. Though the person had their back to the camera, the single bun in her hair meant that it was unmistakably Yoshiko – no, this was definitely _Yohane._ In that special lowered voice that made up a key component of the alter-ego, a speech began _._

“As the mortal world becomes shrouded in shadow, a planar convergence takes place. We who walk in the eternal darkness are permitted, however briefly, to grace the lives of a chosen few in this lowly realm. Will you revel in the profane beauty of the fallen angel? Dare you enter into an unbreakable infernal contract? Have you the bravery to descend into Hell?” Yoshiko span around to face the camera, arms spread wide as if to beckon the viewers toward her. “Come, little demons! For now Yohane Time begins!”

When Yohane made her appearances at school, Hanamaru was often the first to bring Yoshiko back to her senses, normally with some gentle jokes. Yoshiko had requested that herself, after all. But here and now, Yohane was _cool_. What seemed a bit silly in the classroom was transformed by the presentation on camera – as well as the fact that the props and atmosphere were remarkable, Hanamaru was struck by Yoshiko's fallen angel attire, which looked absolutely stunning. What's more, without anyone interrupting her, Yoshiko's charisma and flair for the dramatic could push past any scepticism on the part of the viewer. Hanamaru couldn't help getting swept away by her charms. It wasn't just Maru feeling that way either – she could see comments from other viewers too.

_How's her hair waving?_   
_littl demon 4 life_   
_lend us your powers plz_   
_TODAY'S OUTFIT IS SO CUTE_   
_I pledge eternal servitude to Yohane-sama!_

The camera zoomed out slowly to reveal a table adorned with a black cloth, covered in arcane markings. Objects of unknown significance were placed upon it, arranged in a specific order. Hanamaru had seen this before – a ritual was being prepared. Once again, that alluring voice emanated from the headphones. “The spectral bridge between our worlds is unstable. It appears that the eyes of the heavens are upon us – my time here may be short. But for what time we have, I will share with you the power of the banished one. Submit your requests for knowledge, and Yohane will reveal the secrets of the future.”

It was better not to play along at school, so Hanamaru had never taken Yoshiko up on her offers of fortune-telling before. But now, curiosity had got the better of her. Questions began to flood in, and Hanamaru tried to add hers – but couldn't. “Sign in to post comments,” the screen said. No, no no! She looked over the options. Create an account? Hanamaru didn't have time to muddle through it. Sign in with Twitter? That sounded good – she'd only need to remember the one password. She gave the authorisation to link the account to the streaming site, picked the username Musashino (a literary allusion Yoshiko wouldn't pick up on – just to be safe) and was ready for action. She typed her question.

_will it rain tomorrow?_

She looked back as it appeared on the screen, and suddenly it seemed indescribably ill-judged. Everyone else was asking about big topics – if they'd find love, or whether they'd do well on their tests, or even how they'd die. Hanamaru noticed that Yoshiko tended to ignore those last ones – perhaps she felt it was a step too far? But even compared to the ones she did answer, what Maru had asked was trivial, and she may as well have looked at a weather forecast. The only comfort she had was that she never felt compelled to type “zura” in the same way she said it, so she wasn't in any danger of revealing her real identity. She could no longer concentrate on the predictions as she scolded herself for acting before she thought, and was just about to completely lose herself in a spiral of introspection when the voice through her headphones snapped her back to reality – or whatever passed for it during Yohane Time.

“Musashino… a new addition to my legion of demonic servants.” Hanamaru's heart skipped a beat, and she felt herself getting goosebumps. She couldn’t quite work out whether that was due to hearing her new username spoken aloud for the first time, or the wicked little smile that flashed across Yoshiko’s face as she said it. “My my, what a quaint request! Humans can be such surprising creatures. With all the power of the netherworld at their fingertips, they desire such mundane information! But no matter, you have sought my assistance and I will deliver it. If you venture outside tomorrow, the only thing that will fall from the heavens will be those following the path of Yohane. Rain will certainly not trouble you,” she asserted with utmost confidence. Hanamaru couldn't believe it. Even without knowing who was behind the question, Yoshiko had noticed hers and picked it out!

Hanamaru stifled a yawn, and glanced down at the clock in the bottom of the screen – so convenient! - to see that it was almost 11pm. She was rarely awake to see this hour. Fortunately, it looked like the stream was wrapping up, as the fallen angel appeared to be starting some sort of closing address. “The forces that bind our worlds become strained. The day will come when we are able to descend together, and walk side by side into eternity. But for now, I must unfurl my ebon wings and take flight.” Yohane extinguished the candles in one swish of her cloak, and the stream ended just as it was plunged into darkness.

As she got into bed, Hanamaru was definitely ready to sleep, but also a little bit giddy over everything that had just happened. For the first time, she was able to get a closer look into the Yohane experience, and it had been everything she'd hoped for and more. Not only had it been delightful to see Yoshiko expressing her alter-ego without reservations, but she'd even been able to interact with her – such a futuristic way of communicating! – and getting a response had been incredibly exciting. But as she drifted off into slumber, Hanamaru's last thought of the night was that she absolutely _must_ pack an umbrella for school tomorrow – and an extra one for Yoshiko too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aww, Hanamaru trusts Yohane's fortune telling to be perfect(ly flawed)! Writing Yohane dialogue is so much fun, seriously. I wonder what Yoshiko thinks of her new fan?


	4. Chapter 4

By all measures, Yoshiko Tsushima should have been miserable as she walked through the front door of her family's apartment. She'd got her English test results back that day, and they were only just a step above failure. It's not that she hadn't tried to improve. Inspired by Mari's random outbursts, she'd asked for help, but even when she could be torn away from her duties as the school's director, she didn't end up being much use. It turned out that mixing Yoshiko's tendency to slack off with Mari's lighthearted nature and love of joking around was a recipe for very little actual studying to take place. What's more, she was struggling to nail the timing for Aquors' new dance routine – she was always half a step ahead or behind, and attempts to correct the problem always resulted in overcompensation. Nobody was holding it against her, but she knew she’d need to get it together before the preliminaries.

Despite all of this, the first-year student was wearing the kind of smile that suggested that she didn't have any troubles at all. “Welcome home,” came the habitual greeting from Yoshiko's mother. She wasn't expecting her greeting to be welcomed with a cheery “Hi!” from her daughter, and didn't have time to react before Yoshiko's customary retreat to her bedroom. It wasn't much, but it was nice. Having worried about Yoshiko's social skills throughout middle school, her mother credited Yoshiko's good mood to her school idol activities – making some less eccentric friends was the best thing that could have happened.

Thankfully for Yoshiko, her mother didn't know the truth – Yoshiko was in fact grinning from ear to ear entirely _because_ of her weirder interests. School wasn't the only place she made friends, after all. Yohane Time mostly earned Yoshiko fans rather than friends, but some of her more regular viewers had earned their way into what she liked to call the “inner circle,” a small group that she considered to be friends. She'd ask about what was going on in their lives, entirely in character of course, and always made sure to prioritise them for fortunes and rituals. They didn’t know much about the real Yoshiko, but they seemed to like Yohane, and every time she considered just _not_ streaming, it was the mental vision of their disappointment that caused her to think twice.

Quitting hadn’t been something that Yoshiko had seriously considered for a couple of weeks, though. Lately, it seemed like she might be gaining a new friend by the name of Musashino, and when you cut to the core of it that was what was behind Yoshiko's good mood – she was streaming again tonight, and that meant another chance to interact. This newcomer had shown up about four weeks ago, and hadn’t missed a show since. They’d quickly found their feet amongst the regulars in the chat, and while their messages were a little slow, they were always interesting. (Was that down to a laggy connection or slow typing speed? Yoshiko couldn't tell.)

When viewers had been asked what Yohane needs, Musashino had responded with “a demonic familiar,” and Yoshiko most definitely wanted a pet. When another viewer had asked what kind of film a Yohane movie would be, they had already suggested it’d be a tragedy before Yoshiko had even been able to address the question – that’s certainly how she preferred to characterise her rotten luck, even though in reality it tended to lean more towards slapstick comedy. One time, when someone began to question Yohane’s fortune telling as being far too giving for a being from the netherworld, Musashino had leapt to her defence by noting that Yohane hadn’t become a fallen angel by choice – clearly _somebody_ was paying attention to the backstory – and that she still had kindness in her heart. As Yohane had talked of the celestial conflict that would herald the end of days, Musashino had been fascinated (and even taught Yoshiko a new word – eschatology). It seemed as if this person was really on Yohane's wavelength.

Yoshiko already considered Musashino as part of that special inner circle, one of the little demons she held dearest. In fact, she was quickly coming to consider Musashino as her favourite, and she was incredibly pleased that they seemed to be just as committed to viewing her stream as she was to hosting it – it wouldn’t be the same without them any more. Whenever she found herself zoning out in class, it was inevitably Musashino that she ended up thinking about, largely because she was curious as to what this person was like outside of their interest in Yohane. Their messages didn't give much away as to their real life, though. Even the name was impenetrable, though Yoshiko assumed that it was a rare detail pertaining to their offline persona – most people chose something meaningful, even if only to themselves. She’d seen a train line with that name when she visited Tokyo once. Maybe this person lived in that area? Maybe, if she could get her mother to tag along for safety, they could even meet? Yoshiko ran over the scenario in her head. “Hey, can you take me to meet my friend from the internet? They’re a fan of my streams and I don’t know anything about them.” Yeah, that’d go down a treat. Without anyone to ensure her safety, Yoshiko reluctantly reasoned that meeting up was probably not such a great idea.

Glancing over at the clock, Yoshiko could see that it was getting close to stream time. She began to prepare the scene, shutting her curtains, lighting candles and changing into her fallen angel clothes. Tonight, her plan was more interactive than usual – the idea being to learn more about her viewers, or at least how viewers saw Yohane. The last thing she did, as always, was uncover her webcam. She was still trying to separate Yoshiko and Yohane, and she’d decided that the best way to do that was to ensure that the two worlds never met – Yoshiko’s schoolmates should never meet Yohane outside of Aqours shows, and Yohane’s online fans should never see Yoshiko. One stupid error with the cam would be all it would take to ruin that, by revealing what was in truth a pretty ordinary bedroom.

With a deep breath and a click of the mouse, Yoshiko became Yohane.

“Gathered in the dying light, a congregation of the wicked, awaiting the angel whose beauty so angered God that she was cast out of heaven. I will grace you all with my presence, but you must know that summoning Yohane is a dark bargain indeed. In exchange for my protection, I require evidence of your devotion. Little demons! You entered into a contract with me, and now an offering must be made. So tonight, my sinful servants, I ask of you – what will you bring to appease me?”

Yoshiko watched as the responses came flooding in.

_any1 got sum crosses? Ill hang em upside down_   
_I can sacrifice another goat._   
_1000 BLACK FEATHERS!_   
_we can mail you a letter_   
_Tabasco sauce and something with cayenne peppers_

Truth be told, she had hoped her viewers would be as imaginative as she was. That first one was too stereotypical, the second she hoped was a joke… dull, bland, tasty. Wait, _tasty_? What the heck? And there they were again – Musashino had sent that suggestion. It was an odd one. Yoshiko definitely had an appetite for spicy food, and she’d genuinely like those things as gifts, but that wasn’t something she’d ever brought up during Yohane Time before.

“Musashino, you make an intriguing suggestion,” she said, trying to figure out her mysterious fan’s motivation. “Why do you believe these items to be a worthy gift?” Yoshiko was struggling not to break character, and the anticipation of the inevitably delayed reply was not helping one bit.

_Because the heat would remind you of Hell, and I think you’d like hot food_

Well, that was certainly a plausible in-character explanation, and it was the best of the answers – or at least, the thing Yoshiko most wanted at that point in time. It was still an odd one, though. “Congratulations, little demon! You have stumbled upon one of the ways to Yohane’s blackened heart,” she conceded. After verbally assessing some of the other suggestions, she decided to change the subject. “And what sort of place would you all pick to make your offerings to me? Choose wisely!”

_a ruined church!_   
_How about a sauna? They’re hot like Hell too._   
_letz go 2 onsen heh heh_   
_HOW ABOUT AN ARCADE?_   
_Why not Tokyo?_

These suggestions were definitely better than the last ones, minus the onsen one which earned the idiot a swift banishment from the chat. The ruined church would definitely look amazing and have the right ambience. The sauna one, they were at least trying – although they might not have been so blatant about duplicating Musashino’s reasoning. An arcade would be nice, but was more of a Yoshiko answer than a Yohane answer. And, last as usual, Musashino’s answer.

“Allowing me to demonstrate my demonic powers on your mortal games would be terribly foolish,” she declared. “What would the glory seekers do when faced with the insurmountable obstacle of Yohane’s high scores? And Tokyo… another strange suggestion that has earned my interest. Musashino, are you perhaps a fellow user of magic?”

Again, Yoshiko couldn’t deny that she’d like to visit Tokyo. She was always drawn to the city more than the country, and besides, you could get everything there and there were some amazing stores selling occult goods. If she could go for her birthday, which was coming up soon, she’d be pretty happy. Again though, that’s a Yoshiko thing, more than a Yohane thing. Musashino’s reply had come through.

_I’ve heard it’s a city stained with sin, a place of true terror. That sounds like a place where demons would gather._

Yoshiko couldn’t fault the reasoning, but this time it was even more suspicious. She was sure she’d heard someone say something like that before. It was a silly notion, of course – Tokyo was amazing – but she couldn’t dwell on it long as some of the other users quickly began to mock Musashino.

_Did you know Osaka is the gateway to heaven?_   
_musashino are you from the past?_   
_LOL I BET YOU BELIEVE IN HANAKO-SAN IN THE TOILET_

“Enough! With so many people in Tokyo, it is easier for demons to blend into the crowd. If Musashino is fearful of the grand metropolis, they are fearful with good cause! And that is all the more reason to offer this lost lamb protection.” The fallen angel had surprised even herself with this stern rebuke, as she didn’t often have to deal with a rowdy crowd. Some of the apologetic comments that followed suggested that certain viewers quite liked Yohane’s unusual disciplinarian outburst, though mercifully they stayed on the right side of the creepy line.

“Now that you’ve calmed down, my little demons, I shall express my desires – with this information, you will be able to make the ultimate offering to Yohane,” Yoshiko began again. “Though the material temptations of this lowly world are truly enticing, my true wish goes beyond such trivial objects. When one of my little demons is in danger, I would even display my true powers to see that they come to no harm – and as my little demons, I expect you all to get along. If you are to descend with me, you should be loyal to me and everyone who descends with me,” she continued. It was a sentiment delivered as Yohane, but it came from Yoshiko’s heart. Her efforts to be more normal at school, her joining Aqours, all of that effort was made because the thing Yoshiko wanted the most was to have good friends. “So even in times of great danger, when the divine and the damned finally clash, will your loyalties waver or will you stand behind Yohane?”

_I’ll be standing shoulder to shoulder with you!_   
_ill stand behind yohane_   
_I WOULD DIE FOR YOU_   
_Your wish is my command_

Yoshiko was pleased to have everyone back on the same page. “Very well, you have pleased me. Now, I will open my magic eye and reveal the secrets of your futures,” she said, bringing things back to a place where she firmly controlled the dialogue.

After a good half hour of fortune telling, it was coming time to wrap up. “It is almost time for this tragic beauty to retire to the shadows, but I leave you with a warning,” Yoshiko said with all the gravitas she could muster. “Those of you that have made this contract tonight must abide by it. Failure to perform your duties as a little demon will see you banished to the abyss!” The stream ended and for the first time in a while, Yoshiko was pleased to finish up. That one had ended up getting pretty weird between the onsen creep and the goat sacrifice.

Still thinking of weird things, Yoshiko was drawn back to Musashino – were they an esper or something? She couldn’t quite believe how well judged those offerings had been as she scrolled back through the chat. Then she got annoyed all over again as she got to the section where people turned on them. These people were wrapped up in a fallen angel’s stream and they made fun of someone for having some slightly odd thoughts on Tokyo? Yoshiko thought it somewhat ridiculous. She couldn’t help but defend Musashino, as they had become one of her favourite little demons. Still, she’d managed to sort things out by insisting on solidarity amongst her little demons. It brought a smile to her face as she read the declarations of loyalty again, but… where was Musashino? She scrolled back up.

_I’ll be standing shoulder to shoulder with you!_

For the first time she could recall, Musashino had been quicker to respond than anyone else. Not only that, they’d gone further to affirm their loyalty than anyone else. Who _was_ this person?

Yoshiko was too tired to consider the matter any further. As she switched her light off and went to bed, she decided that she’d have a better chance of figuring it all out in the morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are getting a bit more exciting now! When will the penny drop for our favourite fallen angel?


	5. Chapter 5

Normally, Yoshiko fell asleep pretty quickly after finishing up her stream, but tonight she couldn’t drift off. She could hear dogs restlessly barking outside, not that that would have kept her from sleeping. It was too hot for that, and the poor pups were evidently as irritated by the weather as she was. Even the fan in her room was barely helping. What’s more, she was still wrapped up in the mystery of her unidentifiable viewer. They never seemed to reveal anything about themselves, but did know instinctively what Yoshiko wanted and they seemed to have a genuine interest in Yohane’s world. And then there was thing they said about standing shoulder to shoulder with her in danger…

There was no hope of getting an answer, and she didn’t want to think about it any more, so she took her phone off charge and opened up Twitter. Yoshiko’s feed moved pretty quickly, as she had a lot of things to follow – idol news sites, Yohane fans, gaming feeds and of course her friends from Uranohoshi. The app had flipped back to Top Tweets again, annoyingly, but she couldn’t be bothered to set it back and just idly scrolled down the list. She saw all the usual stuff – a classic A-RISE video, some cute Pokémon art, Chika’s silly photos of Shiitake, the latest offers from Gamers.

Then, something caught Yoshiko’s eye. “I’m watching Yohane Time! Watch live here,” read Hanamaru’s tweet. It was the kind of automatically generated thing some account-linking things did, so the tweet itself wasn’t interesting, but she was surprised that Hanamaru had been watching her stream. In fact, Yoshiko had almost forgotten that she’d even set up an account for her friend – she never really saw her tweet much, and she didn’t seem that interested in using the computer beyond their initial session ages ago. Out of curiosity, she visited Hanamaru’s profile to see if she had bothered to use it at all.

_“I’m watching Yohane Time! Watch live here”_  
_“I’m watching Yohane Time! Watch live here”_  
_“I’m watching Yohane Time! Watch live here”_  
_“I’m watching Yohane Time! Watch live here”_  
_“I’m watching Yohane Time! Watch live here”_

Yoshiko couldn’t believe her eyes. Nothing but auto-tweets, stretching back for quite a few weeks of shows. Hanamaru hadn’t said a thing about watching them. Why would Hanamaru even link an account to Twitter in the first place? Still slightly sluggish due to her tired state, Yoshiko tried to put everything together.

These tweets started a little while after Hanamaru got her PC. Anyone can watch, even without an account. But Hanamaru had an account. What do you need an account to do? A crashing realisation hit Yoshiko. _You need an account to chat_.

There were always new names popping in and out of the stream chat, but the only consistent new user of note recently was… Musashino. Could it be that Musashino had secretly been her oldest friend all along? It’d make sense. She knew unusual words, and she seemed to have an uncanny knack for knowing Yoshiko’s likes and dislikes. Even the slow replies could suddenly be explained – Hanamaru’s typing speed was atrocious because she hadn’t grown up using keyboards (in fact, Yoshiko couldn’t help laughing when she started typing with just the index finger of each hand). Yoshiko decided that it was time to press Google into service as a detective. She searched “Musashino Hanamaru Kunikida” and hoped for the best.

She saw loads of results, nothing to do with her friend, but lots about a book – Musashino, by Doppo Kunikida. Yoshiko clicked an encyclopedia link. It was apparently a work of classic Japanese literature, a book of short stories about people who fall behind the times. That settled it. A name like that was just too perfect. The family name, an old book, self-deprecating humour? That couldn’t be the work of anybody but Zuramaru. But that only raised more questions. Hanamaru was always the first to shut Yoshiko down when Yohane came out at school, but Musashino was a regular viewer of Yohane Time and was super excited by Yohane’s tales of conflict between the divine and the demonic. Could they really be one and the same – and if they were, why hadn’t Hanamaru told Yoshiko about the fact that she was watching?

On the other hand… It was nice to have that sort of attention. Musashino had made her feel so happy over the last few weeks, and she’d wanted to know more – she’d even wondered if she could meet this person, before dismissing the idea as unsafe. The concept that it might have been Hanamaru all along was… _quite intriguing_. Even considering the possibility that Musashino wasn’t just an oddly perceptive stranger and was in fact a long-term friend, Yoshiko was amazed by how much Hanamaru seemed to know about her. Few people would catch on to her little preferences like hot food, although on further consideration it wouldn’t be surprising for Hanamaru to fixate on food. And Yoshiko couldn’t help but keep coming back to that one thing about how Musashino would stand against adversity with her. Hanamaru would definitely do that, wouldn’t she? That much was obvious with how protective she was over Ruby – but she was never secretive over her friendship with Ruby. She didn’t tease Ruby even half as much, either. Hanamaru was definitely close to both of them, but it was a different kind of closeness in each case. Could it be that, actually, Hanamaru…?

Yoshiko didn’t dare finish that thought, because… _Oh_ . Yoshiko felt her heart fluttering. She knew what her luck was like – to even think about it might break the spell, and she didn’t want that because she _wanted_ Hanamaru to be that interested in her. In that moment, it dawned on Yoshiko that she had something of a crush on Hanamaru.

Still a bit delirious from her lack of sleep, but newly energised by this exciting possibility, Yoshiko acted on impulse. She got out of bed with a start and sat down at her computer. If Zuramaru liked her live streams, she thought, then she wouldn’t be able to resist a show where it was just the two of them. That would definitely be the best way to approach things. She opened up her email and began to type an invitation.

“ _Little demon, you have been summoned! Stand before Yohane –_ ”

Yoshiko immediately deleted that garbage. If she was going to be able to explore these feelings with Hanamaru, she should do it properly.

“ _Hanamaru-chan, I want to talk with you. I’ll make a video call–_ ”

Wait a second, thought Yoshiko. Hanamaru, if it even was her, was tuning in for Yohane Time rather than Yoshiko Time. What if that was the appeal? She started typing another, slightly less grandiose (but unmistakably chuuni) invitation and trashed it almost instantly. Half a dozen attempts followed, each slightly less brilliant than the last. Whether it was the heat, her tiredness or the sudden pressure of the situation, she couldn’t find the words. If only she had Hanamaru’s vocabulary. Yoshiko glanced at the clock. 3:24am. She was already going to be an absolute mess at school tomorrow, if she even managed to wake up at all. She had to get this done _now_. Yoshiko hastily bashed out an invitation email and sent it, reasoning that at this point any thinking was overthinking. She then climbed back into bed and finally managed to achieve slumber.

 

* * *

 

18 hours later, Yoshiko was back in her room, drinking coffee. She was utterly exhausted from the night before, and practice had been a nightmare. As a result, she’d made sure to set up her streaming backdrop extra early – she’d ultimately decided that Yohane was the right persona with which to approach the situation. But really, the coffee was an insurance policy more than anything – Yoshiko was wired, barely able to contain her excitement for her one on one chat with Hanamaru. She ran over scenarios in her head, trying to keep herself calm enough that she didn’t trip over her words when she finally spoke them aloud.

10:00pm arrived. Yoshiko stood prepared, ready to see the other name pop up in chat. A couple of minutes passed. No big deal – Musashino hadn’t always been instantly on time, probably because Hanamaru still wasn’t great with computers. A few more minutes passed. Where might she be? At 10:10pm, Yoshiko sat down on her bed and checked her phone. No reply to the email. Her only message was from You, who’d shared a boating picture in the Aqours group chat. No sign of Hanamaru…

Yoshiko awoke in a daze, still sitting on her bed. She glanced over at the candles she’d lit for the show, and they were close to burning out. How long had she been asleep? Her phone told her it was 1:15am. She got up and looked at her stream chat.

Nobody had entered. Why hadn’t Hanamaru entered?

Something that felt like a tornado of emotions immediately hit Yoshiko. She’d built herself up and got so excited, and for what? Hanamaru didn’t show up. Maybe she was busy? Maybe she’d been wrong about Hanamaru being Musashino? No, she thought. It couldn’t something so mundane. In her fatigued state, Yoshiko was in no position to resist the wave of negativity washing over her. She’d probably been ignored. Maybe Hanamaru had even been watching her streams just to make fun of Yohane some more. Yeah, it was probably all some elaborate joke at her expense. Why had she been so stupid as to let herself believe that someone would actually like her for all that middle school nonsense? How could she have been so naive?

She didn’t know and she didn’t have the energy to think about it any longer. Yoshiko crumpled back onto her bed and buried her head into her pillow, quietly sobbing herself back to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Yoshiko, she finally realises she has a secret admirer and still can't catch a break. Hopefully Hanamaru has a good reason for not showing up…


	6. Chapter 6

Lessons were over for the day at Uranohoshi High, but the building was surprisingly full. Even the sports clubs were taking refuge indoors, such was the intensity of the heat on this sunny afternoon – air conditioning and cool drinks were vastly preferable to sweat and sunburn, after all. But up on the rooftop of the school Aqours had been hard at work, squeezing in every moment of practice that they could get prior to their next Love Live performance. “Good job, everyone,” said Kanan, with an unusual hint of weariness in her voice. “Yoshiko, you’ve really nailed the dance today. Keep it up! Let’s take ten minutes to rest and rehydrate.” Everyone was grateful for the rest, but perhaps none more so than Hanamaru. Physical conditioning was something that she struggled with, and the hot, heavy work had left her covered in perspiration.

As she sat off to the side, Hanamaru picked up her water bottle, took a massive gulp and looked around the rooftop. Everyone was slumped against the walls, taking whatever shade they could find – Ruby and Dia propped up against each other, Chika loudly complaining to You and Riko, and even Kanan was off her feet for once. But the person she was looking to congratulate had completely disappeared, and Hanamaru was starting to wonder if something was wrong with her. Yoshiko had been strangely quiet. Not having brought out Yohane was one thing, but Yoshiko had barely said a word all day. She hadn't been seen on the way to school and though Hanamaru had searched for her at lunchtime, she was nowhere to be found. Yoshiko had been the last one to show up for practice and although she wasn’t saying much to anybody, it seemed almost as if she was keeping her distance from Hanamaru in particular.

“Wow, Yoshiko-chan's very focused today,” said Mari cheerily, disrupting Hanamaru’s train of thought. Even though the sweltering heat had clearly taken its toll on her, she remained as exuberant as ever as she took a seat next to the first year. “Has she made some kind of demonic pact to increase her concentration?”

“Why would I know?” asked Hanamaru, who caught even herself slightly off guard with her terseness.

Mari didn’t react to her friend’s unusual attitude in the slightest. “Well, who knows Yoshiko better than you? Besides, haven't you been spending a lot of time watching her channel lately? Very exciting!” The last remark was delivered in English, as she was prone to doing.

“Zura?! How'd you know that?”

“Huh? You post on Twitter every time you watch one of her streams,” said Mari. “Weren't you trying to get more people to watch them?”

“I post on…? Oh no…” The reality of Hanamaru’s situation dawned on her. She’d been so sneaky in going about watching Yoshiko’s streams, and but ultimately she didn’t know what she was doing with technology. Her clever cover suddenly didn’t feel quite so smart. “Does that mean Yoshiko-chan could see that too?”

“Of course!” Mari replied, again in English. “I'd be more surprised if she didn't. She uses Twitter quite a lot.”

Resigned to the fact that she’d probably been caught out, Hanamaru just slumped rather than offering a response. But with everything out in the open, she decided that she may as well open up to Mari. “Yoshiko hasn't been talking to me today. She hasn't really been talking to anyone,” she admitted. “I think she might be upset. What'll I do?”

Mari hadn’t approached Hanamaru randomly. She’d seen the way Hanamaru had been looking at Yoshiko when she thought nobody else was looking, and she sensed a juicy situation. If she had half a chance, she’d probably try to play matchmaker. But the situation was evidently more sensitive than she had imagined. Unconsciously, her mischievous smile had become considerably more gentle. “I know what I’d do,” she offered. “Talk to her. You've got to get things out in the open, even if she doesn't want to do it. Even if you annoy her. You won't get anywhere if you don't talk to her.”

“And that’d work, zura?”

“It might work, it might not. Either way, it probably won’t be fun,” Mari replied. She honestly wasn’t sure if the advice she was giving was actually good advice, but it did at least come from the heart. “But we wouldn’t have Kanan out here turning us into puddles of sweat if I’d let her avoid me.”

“Yeah, that’s true. Thanks Mari. I’ll try that.” Hanamaru didn't often have deep conversations with her third-year friend, but she was really glad to have the benefit of her experience here.

“And then, when you've finished talking, grab her and give her a big kiss!” Mari said to Hanamaru's surprise – she really couldn’t help herself sometimes. “It's joke,” she added, though this was of no relief to her junior, whose red face could no longer be chalked up to the group’s rigorous practice.

Practice resumed shortly afterwards, but the group ended up calling it quits pretty quickly. It appeared that they’d finally mastered the routine, and the heat wasn’t getting any more bearable as the afternoon progressed. There was a serious risk that if they continued to work in that temperature, they’d overexert themselves and end up sick or injured. Heading back down the stairs to change out of her practice clothes, which were now somewhat gross and drenched in sweat, Hanamaru began to reflect on how she’d ended up in this situation.

All she’d wanted was to see her friend when she wasn’t trying to just fit in with everybody else – to see her in her comfort zone, at home in the little world she’d created for herself. And she’d got that chance – even though she had to deceive her parents and hide her actions from Yoshiko to do it. Up until now, it had all been worth it. But she didn’t want it to end. As much as she knew it was born from some decidedly oddball behaviour, Hanamaru couldn’t help but admire Yoshiko’s creativity. If she channelled it properly, she could write a pretty good book. It might lose something without Yohane herself telling the stories, though – without the voice and the costume, and those cute little smiles. At that thought, she suddenly felt herself going red again.

As the Aqours girls started making their way home, Hanamaru looked around for Yoshiko but didn’t see her. She decided she’d have a better chance outside and as she headed to the school gates, she caught sight of Yoshiko, who was already heading for the bus stop at a brisk pace without having said much to anyone. She practically had to jog to keep up with her classmate. “Yoshiko-chan?” she asked, to no response. “Are you alright, zura?” she continued, this time reaching out to tap Yoshiko on the shoulder.

Yoshiko pulled away with a curt “I'm fine,” leaving Hanamaru's arm to drop back to her side.

“Are you sure? You've been seemin' real quiet,” Hanamaru said, “and it feels like you're ignorin' me.”

That was _it_ . Yoshiko came to an abrupt halt, turned around and decided to confront the issue directly. “ _I've_ been ignoring _you_? You've been ignoring me!” she shouted. “Why didn't you join the private stream last night?”

Maru was caught off guard. She thought that she was going to get an earful about watching the streams, rather than about _not_ watching one. But what private stream? Suddenly she realised what Yoshiko was referring to – an email she’d totally ignored.

“The email seemed weird,” Hanamaru said, her voice shaking. She'd seen Yoshiko get mad a whole bunch over not being called Yohane, but for the first time ever she seemed genuinely angry. Still, there was no point in being dishonest about this. “ _You_ told me not to go clickin' any weird links.”

Yoshiko's frustration was growing. “Weird?! What was weird about it?”

“It just said 'Come to my private stream' and had a link,” Hanamaru shot back. “I thought it might be dirty stuff!”

Yoshiko could feel her face flushing. It's true that she'd sent that invitation hastily, and she'd spent so much time agonising over the wording that she could no longer remember what she'd written when she finally decided to just take action. Still, more out of hurt than reason, she continued to argue. “But even so, the email was from me!”

“I thought someone had done a hack on you and turned you into a… a hamdroid!”

“ _SPAMBOT_! Augh!”

Before another word could escape Hanamaru's mouth, Yoshiko began to sprint down the hill away from the school – the whole situation had become too embarrassing and upsetting to bear any longer. Hanamaru instantly gave chase, running faster than she'd ever managed to before. But after just a short while Yoshiko had managed to actually increase her lead, and despite Maru's best efforts her lack of athleticism was catching up to her. Strength of will was the only thing keeping her moving at all – her lungs felt like they were on fire and her legs seemed to be one step away from buckling under her. Maru tried not to cry but was struggling to keep it together. Surely, things couldn't end this way?

At that very moment, fate intervened.

From the nearby trees, a squirrel had darted out of the trees straight into Yoshiko's path. She'd tried to stop herself in order to avoid hurting it, but caught one foot on the other and tumbled over in spectacular fashion, performing a full forward roll as she fell. Hanamaru couldn't make all that out in the distance, but she definitely saw Yoshiko stumble and by the time she'd made up the distance, Yoshiko still hadn't got to her feet. It looked like she didn't even want to. She was sat by the side of the road, knees to her chest with her arms wrapped around them, and her head buried forward. Still, she didn't refuse when Hanamaru helped her up and took her to a nearby bench.

For a little while, it seemed like a bad idea to try to say anything. Hanamaru initially let Yoshiko regain her composure quietly, with only the chirping of the cicadas filling the silence, but after a few minutes she plucked up the resolve to ask the question that had been bugging her. “Why'd you run away?”

“I just wanted… I couldn't… you wouldn't,” said Yoshiko, struggling to put together a coherent thought. She still had her head down, not wanting her friend to see her face. “You were watching my streams, weren’t you? You were Musashino, right?” she finally began. Hanamaru nodded.

“So I wanted to do one just for you, to tell you how I felt.”

“I don't understand,” Hanamaru replied. “What would you be sayin' that you couldn't say to me here?”

“Just… It felt like it'd be harder, like I couldn't say it if you were there in front of me. And you were keeping it secret, and talking on the stream felt like our special thing. And…” Yoshiko sighed, before revealing the truth. “I wanted to be Yohane. It’d be easier to take it if I was wrong, if was Yohane you didn’t like, and-” Yoshiko was cut off by the feeling of a hand on her chin, as Hanamaru raised her friend's head gently.

Without another word, Hanamaru kissed Yoshiko.

Yoshiko was absolutely dumbstruck, and her body went rigid with the surprise. “Yoshiko and Yohane ain't different to me, you don't have one without the other,” Hanamaru explained.

“So… you don’t think I’m lame?” asked Yoshiko, her shoulders finally loosening up a little.

“I don’t.”

“But you make fun of me so much…”

“You need someone to keep your feet on the ground, zura. I stop you bein' Yohane at school 'cause you asked me to do it. But you’ve created this whole world of your own, and I wanted to know what it was like. I didn’t think you wanted me peepin’ in on your streams ’cause you got so flustered about it before. I think it’s amazing, though,” she continued. “I never would’ve been so interested in the first place if it wasn’t you, though. Yohane is what makes you happy, and if you're happy them I'm happy. I love _you_ ,” concluded Hanamaru, softly but firmly.

“Uwaaaaaaaaaa-! I've been such an _idiot_!”

Hanamaru was caught completely off guard by Yoshiko as she burst into tears, and quickly tried to console her friend. It wasn't quite how she'd expected it to go. But Yoshiko had a lot of pent-up emotions to unleash – joy, relief, quite a lot of embarrassment – and they all came out at once. The pair were quite a scene, with Hanamaru's arm wrapped around Yoshiko as she wept into her friend's shoulder. The tears came to a stop eventually, and Yoshiko finally managed to respond properly to everything that had just happened.

“So you'll be…? Not my little demon, but… be my…”

“Girlfriend?” offered Hanamaru.

“Yes. Hanamaru… Be my girlfriend. Please…” Yoshiko finally said, battling back her embarrassment.

“Of course,” Hanamaru responded with a smile. Yoshiko stared into Hanamaru's eyes for a moment, waiting for the punchline, but none came. Hanamaru just embraced her warmly, before kissing her again - this time with more depth, and this time with Yoshiko softening to her touch rather than tensing up in surprise. “Come on, let’s go home.” As the new couple walked down the hill hand in hand, neither said much – both were rather drained after a day of emotional turmoil. But as they reached the bus stop, Yoshiko spoke up.

“Hey, we’ll talk online tonight, right?”

“You’re streamin’, zura?”

“No, just me and you.”

“Oh? _Oh_. Yeah, I’d like that.”

 

* * *

 

With her homework done for the night, Hanamaru switched on her laptop. Without realising it, she smiled to herself a little. How much trouble had this machine caused for her? It didn’t matter, not really. It had all been worth it. As the boot sequence finished and her programs loaded, she looked at the messages that had gathered up on Skype.

_Hey, are you ready?_  
_Let me know when you’re ready to talk  
Hurry up Zuramaru! _

Barely two seconds after the call button had been hit, Yoshiko appeared on the screen, wearing a slight pout born of impatience. Hanamaru couldn’t help feel that she looked pretty cute like that.

“Hey, why did you keep me waiting? You must have got home hours ago!”

“Sorry, I was doin’ my homework. I’m surprised you finished yours so quickly.”

“Uh… yeah, let’s say that’s what I did,” said Yoshiko. “So… sorry about earlier. I was super tired and I made some bad assumptions. I should have just talked to you about it.”

“No, I’m sorry too. I should’ve just told you that I wanted to watch you streamin’.”

“Honestly, you were right earlier. I wouldn’t have helped you if I’d known that’s what you wanted.”

“I know. But ain’t you glad you did?”

“Well… yeah,” responded Yoshiko, who quickly searched for a way to change the subject while her face rapidly reddened, and realised this was the first time she was seeing Hanamaru’s room on webcam. “Wow, you’ve got so many books.”

“Almost as many as you have candles,” quipped Hanamaru. “Actually, I was thinkin’ lately, I wanna try writing one. But I kind of need you to help me.”

“Yeah? What would it be about?”

“A cute girl.”

“You don’t need my help to write your autobiography.”

“Very smooth,” said Hanamaru. “Actually, I was thinkin’ I’d call it The Chronicles Of Yohane. So what do you think?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hooray, it all worked out! I hope you enjoyed this - it was fun to write. I had a cute idea one night and told my friend, who encouraged me to run with it. This is the result. I'd never really been into shipping before, in any fandom, but there's something about Yoshiko and Hanamaru that I find adorable. Let me know what you thought, by all means.


End file.
